Quotes from Head Coach Raheem Morris and TE Kellen Winslow

by Roland Johnson on August 2, 2009

HEAD COACH RAHEEM MORRIS

(On roster moves, injuries and practice)
“We released Maurice Miller and picked up Ryan Schmidt, a kid from South Florida, actually. Funny story about Ryan Schmidt – when I first went to Kansas State, we kind of ran him out of Kansas State, I guess, and he ended up at South Florida and became a pro prospect. We were really good coaches up at Kansas State, I guess, and lost a pro prospect. We could have had somebody else blocking for [Josh Freeman] and all the other guys we had there. Now I have to make it up and pick him up at Tampa. As far as injuries, we talked about it the other day, you asked about [Louis] Holmes. He had an ankle sprain and will probably be out for about a week. I hate to say high ankle sprain, because usually those take a little bit longer. I’m not sure what it is. A few guys cramped up today, and really that’s about it as far as the injuries. Today, our offensive tempo I thought was just not up to par. I didn’t like it all. I didn’t like it coming out of the huddle, I didn’t like it coming off the ball up front. I didn’t like the procedure from quarterback to their team. Up front yesterday on defense, it wasn’t good. Today we responded. That had something to do with it as well. Those guys came out and the defensive front responded. They played hard and they hustled and they came at them every snap. You like to see that response, but you’d like to see the consistency on offense at the same time.”

(On the live plays at the end of practice)
“It wasn’t planned. Actually I didn’t like the tempo at all up front from the O-line. And it starts up front, which we always say. I know it’s kind of a coach’s cliché, but it does. If those up-front people aren’t doing it right then and the tempo is not being set by the quarterbacks, it’s not going to look good. The defense had it going pretty good. They were humming around, they were making plays, they were knocking down balls. I just wanted to prove a point to the offense. It’s easy to run around in shorts and it’s easy to run around in the stadium and catch passes when you know you’re not going to get hit. But the last six plays of practice I said, ‘Let’s strap up and go live.’ These guys didn’t want to set the tempo, so I’ll do it. At the end of the day I’m being held responsible for it anyway.”

(On why the offense struggled on Sunday)
“More than likely, it’s coming off the high from last night. You come from the stadium where it’s got a lot of people in it screaming, you’ve got the music going, you’ve got it from the sideline, the coaches are all talking – it’s exciting. It’s a pretty exciting atmosphere. And then you come to practice and it’s just practice. It doesn’t matter where you are, you have to perform the same way. I don’t care which stadium you go to. Other stadiums aren’t as loud as Tampa Bay’s stadium all the time, but going into those stadiums you’ve got to perform the same way you did when it was as loud as it can be. All that stuff is grey matter. You’ve got to learn how to deal with that.”

(On the defense clicking on Sunday)
“They had to click after last night. You go back and watch tape and you get a little angry. You get going, you get going in a hurry. You can see the intensity out there today. Robert Nunn and Todd Wash got challenged. I make no secret about it. I’m with the challenges and I like to talk to my coaches that way. As long as you’re fair, I believe it’s okay. Not that I’m going to embarrass anybody, but I will let you know if you were embarrassed. Coach [Jon] Gruden had no problem letting me know when he gashed me when he was offensive coordinator here, and I had no problem letting him know when I gashed him. Usually I won more.”

(On Elbert Mack)
“Last night I told you guys, he had to be the Camper of the Day, so to speak. Any time you walk away from the first day of camp and you’ve got two interceptions…like I told him this morning, he’s got to be Eddie Johnson. He’s got to be The Microwave. He’s got to go in the game on third downs and stand up. Everybody’s looking at him. Here’s the sub, throw it at the sub. And it’s always going to be that way, whatever team you’re on. Ronde Barber’s inside, there’s your sub, throw at him. And you’ve got to stand up and make a play. That’s usually how it works. Last year it was Aqib [Talib]. It will be no different for Elbert Mack. You’re going to be as good as that guy can be. As long as he keeps practicing like he is right now, who knows? Who knows what he can be?”

(On Quincy Black)
“Quincy Black is one of those hybrid guys. I don’t know if you noticed, but we’ve got him at a little bit of rush-end. He does that in certain situations. He’s big enough, fast enough and he creates a problem for certain tackles and he creates a problem for people trying to block him. We’ve got him coming through on some linebacker stuff. When he comes, he’s a big, violent, physical human being, the kind of guys that you like. He kind of is one of those 3-4 hybrid guys, and you can use him any system. You always hear people say, ‘He doesn’t fit the system.’ Well make the system fit that guy. And that’s what we’re doing.”

(On the quarterbacks)
“As a group, I didn’t think they were very good today. They did not do a good job of getting the call from Jags [Offensive Coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski], taking it to the huddle, controlling the offense and leading the way. Any time your offense struggles, it probably starts right there, and that’s just the way it is.”

(On Josh Freeman)
“He threw one interception after the receiver ran the wrong route, but you can’t do that. If he runs the wrong route, there’s no reason to throw it to him. Don’t reward a guy and throw him the pass if he runs the wrong route. Don’t throw it. It’s just things like that all day with those guys. They’ve got to be better. They were pretty good last night. They were on fire. Again – lights, stadium, fans, every media guy. You’ve got to do it every day. You’ve got to be consistent, and it starts with their coaches and at the end of the day it’s my responsibility, it’s my fault.”

(On tracking the quarterback competition)
“It’s going to be throughout the process of camp, so it’s not open scoring, daily scores, who finishes last. It’s more of the guy who puts it all together and goes out, and when he’s the quarterback we’ll all know it.”

(On Kellen Winslow)
“Winslow, he’s getting used to his pads and running around. Phenomenal athlete. He’s showing some toughness in the run game. I saw him go out there last night and try to get at somebody. He tried to get at Quincy Black, actually. Quincy Black kind of chucked him off a little bit. It was kind of a nice little battle going on. He’s developing his core, he’s getting used to this weather. You see his mouth open a little bit. A superior athlete running around in shorts, he’s getting a little tired in these pads. And that’s good. You’ve got to embrace it. He’s got to get back to his U [of Miami] form, when he was down playing in it all the time.”

(On Cadillac Williams)
“I’m looking at him to make that dynamic move and run through the hole and make some yards. I respect him. I’m not looking to break Cadillac down. Cadillac knows his body. Cadillac is a great communicator with me. I trust [Head Trainer] Todd [Toriscelli] to the fullest. Todd’s a great communicator with me.”

TE KELLEN WINSLOW

(On the offense’s performance today)
“We just have to pick it up. It is day two. Ever since I have been playing football, the defense is always a little ahead of the offense. It takes a little while for the offense to get going. We will get there though. It is only day two.”

(On learning the new playbook)
“I am just trying to learn the offense. It will come.”

(On this offense compared to offenses he has worked with in the past)
“This is a zone schemed offense and we go with the play action off of that. It is not a complicated offense. I really like it and a lot of the guys really like it. We are excited about it.”

(On being back in the heat since his time at the University of Miami)
“You know I haven’t been there (Miami) in six years so it is a rude awakening but I am getting used to it.”

(On how the heat may be an advantage for the team)
“When I was at Miami, in the fourth quarter the other team was dying. That is when we would beat them up. Right now, I am dying. I am just trying to get used to it.”

(On going live in practice today)

“Nobody was happy. That is what you are supposed to do. It is day two. The guys are just thinking too much and not playing football. We will be fine.”